I. Field
The present invention concerns a clip for attaching a bed liner to a cargo area of a vehicle such as a pickup truck. It may concern such a clip for an over the rail bed liner.
II. Art
Various clip devices are known for attaching bed liners to the beds of pickup trucks. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,122,583 to Grittner et al.; 4,572,568 to Kapp et al.; 4,595,229 to Wagner; 4,740,026 to Wagner; 4,740,027 to Ormiston; 4,750,776 to Barben; 4,768,822 to Gower; 4,850,633 to Emery; 5,046,775 to Marcum, Jr. et al.; 5,267,820 to Sturtevant; 5,364,150 to Cochran et al.; 5,513,934 to German; and 5,782,520 to Smith. Compare, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,182 to Peterson. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,853,913 to Rapata, 3,029,486 to Raymond, 3,093,027 to Rapata, 3,093,874 to Rapata, 4,181,349 to Nix et al. 4,470,737 to Wollar, 4,540,214 to Wagner, 4,575,146 to Markos, 4,659,133 to Gower, 4,677,714 to Wright, 4,708,895 to Mizasawa, 4,796,942 to Robinson et al., 4,906,040 to Edwards, 4,924,561 to Yoneyama, 5,150,940 to Kennedy, 5,345,658 to Kennedy, and 5,893,599 to Strohfeldt; Australian patent No. 250,088 (Oct. 11, 1962), and French patent Nos. 1,364,535 (1964) and 1,576,385 (1969); and Durakon Industries, Inc., instruction sheet (Sep. 12, 2002) for a Dodge Ram 1500 liner fastener, Penda Corporation, Bedliner Installation Instructions (6/93) for an over rail bedliner and fastener, and The Colonel's Inc., Installation Instructions for fastening bedliners with an overrail fastener clip.
Among problems with some of these can be mentioned complexity or multi-part construction. Others do not hold as securely as desired. Some are cost prohibitive. Some require downward pressure on the bed liner through a flexible lower arm.
It would be good to ameliorate or overcome such problems.